BiasAlerts

On Tuesday's CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith repeated liberal talking points while asking Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about President Obama's plan to nationalize the health care system: "People get worried when the idea of somebody messing with their health care comes along, but the fact is, is we spend trillions of dollars on health care every year, and if anything is helping or contributing to killing the economy, it's that cost. Why is it so important that this be dealt with?" Sebelius easily hit that softball: "It isn't about cutting services. It's about doing smarter, more... continue reading

David Shuster, substitute hosting for Chris Matthews on Tuesday's Hardball, absurdly asserted that Dick Cheney "didn't know" about al-Qaeda before 9/11. After playing a clip of the former Vice President on Face the Nation stating that "on the morning of 9/12...there was a great deal we didn't know about al-Qaeda," Shuster ignored the "great deal," qualifier and insisted to his guests that somehow Cheney was clueless about the threat of the terrorist organization prior to 9/11. Shuster's guest, former Cheney aide Ron Christie, corrected Shuster, pointing out "that's one snippet taken out of context...Of course we knew about al-Qaeda," but... continue reading

Former New Yorker editor Tina Brown appeared on Tuesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC to rail against the "crazy jihad" and "one-man...hate-fest" of Dick Cheney. Brown, who is now the editor of the Daily Beast Web site, trashed the former Vice President for constantly appearing on cable news programs to attack the current administration and for claiming that Barack Obama is making America less safe. After asserting that Cheney is about as popular as Pakistan's President, Brown sneered: "In some ways, I kind of admire this kind of crazy jihad, this one man, kind of, hate-fest that he runs on cable... continue reading

1. CBS's Smith Cues Up Sebelius to Recite Health Care Talking Points On Tuesday's CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith repeated liberal talking points while asking Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about President Obama's plan to nationalize the health care system: "People get worried when the idea of somebody messing with their health care comes along, but the fact is, is we spend trillions of dollars on health care every year, and if anything is helping or contributing to killing the economy, it's that cost. Why is it so important that this be dealt with?" Sebelius easily hit... continue reading

Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel took to BBC's World News America newscast on Monday night to denounce former Vice President Dick Cheney as Koppel declared U.S. policy should be that "torture is always illegal, and those who use it will always be prosecuted." Koppel shared how his "greatest disagreement" with Cheney is over describing water-boarding as an "enhanced interrogation technique," which Koppel contended is a "euphemism" for torture that is "almost the moral equivalent of saying that rape is an enhanced seduction technique." Furthermore, Koppel contended in mocking the carefully construed legal reasoning that allowed water-boarding, if you do... continue reading

Talking about Wanda Sykes' nasty anti-Limbaugh "joke" at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner ("I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was just so strung out on oxycontin he missed his flight"), CBS's Harry Smith defended Sykes more than did Keith Olbermann. Smith recounted on Monday's Early Show: "I ran into Keith Olbermann afterwards...And he said 'I'm not sure, I think that was probably - probably in bad taste.' I said 'what do you think her job is?'" While even left-wing bomber thrower Olbermann thought Sykes was over the line, Smith defended her: "Well, you... continue reading

Angels & Demons star Tom Hanks received zero critical questions or challenges when he appeared on Monday's Good Morning America to promote a movie that features the Catholic Church ordering a brutal massacre in order to silence a secret society. Instead, Sawyer referred to the film, a prequel to The Da Vinci Code, as a "scary, spiritual scavenger hunt." After playing a clip of Hanks' character in the film asserting that he has no religious beliefs, she moved on to talking about how the movie star still gets nervous when he acts. It's not as though Hanks didn't open himself... continue reading

1. Koppel: 'Enhanced Interrogation' Like 'Rape Is Enhanced Seduction' Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel took to BBC's World News America newscast on Monday night to denounce former Vice President Dick Cheney as Koppel declared U.S. policy should be that "torture is always illegal, and those who use it will always be prosecuted." Koppel shared how his "greatest disagreement" with Cheney is over describing water-boarding as an "enhanced interrogation technique," which Koppel contended is a "euphemism" for torture that is "almost the moral equivalent of saying that rape is an enhanced seduction technique." Furthermore, Koppel contended in mocking the carefully... continue reading

How many times can you use the discrediting term "extremely," suggesting "extremist" positions, in a single sentence describing the state of the Republican Party? Three, if you're writing Time magazine's cover story. Michael Grunwald contended "the party's ideas - about economic issues, social issues and just about everything else - are not popular ideas." He then asserted in the article for the May 18 edition of the magazine: "They are extremely conservative ideas tarred by association with the extremely unpopular George W. Bush, who helped downsize the party to its extremely conservative base." Grunwald proceeded to characterize the GOP's agenda... continue reading

To Bob Schieffer's astonishment, when he wrapped up his Sunday interview by asking former Vice President Dick Cheney where he comes down between Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell who both say the Republican Party would be "better off" without the other, Cheney declared: "I'd go with Rush Limbaugh." Cheney related on CBS's Face the Nation how "my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican." Schieffer was surprised: "So you think that he's not a Republican?" Cheney explained: "I just noted he endorsed the Democratic candidate for President this time,... continue reading

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